The present disclosure relates generally to airframes and, more particularly, to unmanned aircraft system (UAS) airframes.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
A variety of situations exist in which a UAS may be desired. For example, a UAS may be used to assist law enforcement, to spot forest fires, to report vehicular traffic, and more generally, to be used as a remote observation platform for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations. The UAS may include an airframe typically designed to enclose a power train and related flight components. In some UAS, a camera system may used. For example, a fixed wing or rotary wing unmanned aircraft system (UAS) may include a camera system providing a high definition (HD) video camera. The UAS may be directed to a locality of interest and used to provide images and video observations from the locality. In this manner, suitable visual observations may be obtained, without the need to place a human in harm's way.
One difficulty that arises with aerially-conveyed camera systems is the change in handling of the UAS as well as the extra weight associated with attaching the camera mount and fuel tanks to the UAS. Such changes may reduce the operational effectiveness of the UAS and may require additional retraining by the human operator to account for the different handling of the UAS caused by the camera mount and fuel tank. In particular, camera systems capable of higher resolution imagery may be heavy, and may have a more pronounced effect on the flight characteristics of the UAS. There is a need, therefore, for an improved airframe suitable for conveying a camera mount and a fuel tank, while maintaining efficient flight characteristics of the UAS.